Justin Freid

Ad relevancy is key to moving a customer down their purchase path. The consumer profiles we build on each individual user provide insight into their needs, brand biases, social stances and much, much more. When done correctly, we are able to better understand a prospect, allowing us to place a…

Brand safety has never been a hotter topic than it is now. Brands are expected not only to understand who their advertisements are being shown to but also what content their ads may be running next to. (See the World Federation of Advertisers’ Global Media Charter announced today.) In the eyes of…

In late January, Amazon made the announcement that they are looking into how to monetize their Echo and Dot smart home devices through paid advertising. This sent the advertising industry into a state of excitement. With Amazon having sold more than 5 million devices since launch, there is ample…

There is no doubt the search industry has evolved. Just one look at how search engine results pages are currently laid out shows how things have changed. We have come a long way from 10 blue links. But have we gone far enough? At SXSW earlier this month, information access was a hot topic. People…

The recent Microsoft Ignite event in September told us a lot about the direction technology is going — and specifically how it will impact marketers. Microsoft emphasized two trends that will have a significant effect on marketers. The first is an effort to make artificial intelligence (AI) and…

Over the past few weeks, we have seen major players in TV and CTV (connected TV) make major moves that will shape how TV will be bought in the future. Having gotten clearance from a federal judge (a decision being appealed by the Justice Department), AT&T purchased Time Warner and followed that up…

Social has become a key component of most brands’ marketing and engagement strategies. As a result, there are quite a few complexities across listening, community engagement and advertising. With smaller brands, efforts across these tactics may all fall to one person, who may have difficulty…

With buzzwords like AI and machine learning being thrown around more than a football at training camp, it’s important for marketers to understand the ins and outs of how the various components that make up these technology advances work. Advancements in natural language processing (NLP) were one of…

Many large retail chains — such as Macy’s, Sears and J.C. Penney — have been struggling. Just this week, children’s clothing retailer Gymboree declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy and announced plans to close hundreds of its stores. Why is this happening? One factor fueling this retail trend is the rise…